Column vs. Pilaster

Columnnoun

(architecture) A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.

Pilasternoun

A rectangular column that projects partially from the wall to which it attached; it gives the appearance of a support, but is only for decoration.

Columnnoun

A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.

Pilasternoun

A column or short wing wall attached to the foundation wall which provides lateral support, or to support a vertical load that does not fall on the foundation wall.

Columnnoun

A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.

Pilasternoun

An upright architectural member right-angled in plan, constructionally a pier (See Pier, 1 (b)), but architecturally corresponding to a column, having capital, shaft, and base to agree with those of the columns of the same order. In most cases the projection from the wall is one third of its width, or less.

Columnnoun

A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.

‘It was too hard to read the text across the whole page, so I split it into two columns.’;

Pilasternoun

a rectangular column that usually projects about a third of its width from the wall to which it is attached

Columnnoun

A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.

‘Each column inch costs $300 a week; this ad is four columns by three inches, so will run $3600 a week.’;

Pilaster

In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall surface, usually treated as though it were a column, with a capital at the top, plinth (base) at the bottom, and the various other column elements.

Columnnoun

(by extension) A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.

‘His initial foray into print media was as the author of a weekly column in his elementary-school newspaper.’;

Columnnoun

Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.

Columnnoun

(botany) The gynostemium

Columnnoun

(chemistry) An object used to separate the different components of a liquid or to purify chemical compounds.

Columnnoun

A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. See Order.

Columnnoun

Anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk; as, a column of air, of water, of mercury, etc.; the Column Vendôme; the spinal column.

Columnnoun

A body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; - contradistinguished from line. Compare Ploy, and Deploy.

Columnnoun

A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; - in distinction from "line", where they are side by side.

Columnnoun

A perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space; as, a column in a newspaper.

Columnnoun

A perpendicular line of figures.

Columnnoun

The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids.

Columnnoun

one of a series of articles written in a periodical, usually under the same title and at regular intervals; it may be written and signed by one or more authors, or may appear pseudonymously or anonymously, as an editorial column.

Columnnoun

a line of (usually military) units following one after another

Columnnoun

a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands

Columnnoun

a linear array of numbers one above another

Columnnoun

anything tall and thin approximating the shape of a column or tower;

‘the test tube held a column of white powder’; ‘a tower of dust rose above the horizon’; ‘a thin pillar of smoke betrayed their campsite’;

Columnnoun

an article giving opinions or perspectives

Columnnoun

a vertical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (as a monument or a column of air)

Columnnoun

(architeture) a tall cylindrical vertical upright and used to support a structure

Column

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member.